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David Kessler is a Philadelphia filmmaker and painter. His current project, a video blog called, “Shadow World” has recently received attention from local newspapers for its candid glimpses of strangers Kessler encounters while filming in Kensington. The video blog was inspired by his work on “If You Break the Skin, You Must Come In”, which is a film that started out as a project that Kessler was hired to do through the ICA, by the Big Picture Alliance, where he would help a group of youth to create a documentary on photographer Zoe Strauss. The film turned into a much more in depth project, as the kids realized that they had their own stories to tell and turned the cameras on themselves. On November 7, “If You Break the Skin, You Must Come In” was screened as part of the First Person Festival. As a preview to this event, I spoke with David Kessler about the film and his work.

Do you think that any of the youth have been inspired by the project in the sense of realizing that they have a story to tell?

I think so. Even if it’s something that is more of an unconscious change. Some of the teens did actually go on to become interns at the Institute for Contemporary Art, so they obviously took something away- this made it easy to see that they wanted to continue working in the arts. But I think that all of them went through a transformation as far as seeing their own lives as being possible forces of art, and to be able to see art in a different sense, seeing it in a different way than what they are accustomed to thinking of what art is.

When the film was screened before, what do you think that people took away from it?

The reactions that I got were overwhelmingly positive, and that was right after spending 9 months in my studio editing it by myself, so it was hard to judge how people would react to it. But everybody that I talked to said it was moving and powerful and important in some way.

Do you think that the film describes Philadelphia in some way?

I think it’s definitely a Philadelphia film. I’m curious to see what people outside of Philadelphia will think of it eventually. There’s definitely a feeling of Philadelphia in it. I mean, there are a lot of Philadelphia locations, and Zoe herself is definitely rooted in Philadelphia and the kids are Philadelphia kids. It’s unmistakably a Philadelphia film, but I think there is a message in it that is universal that comes across…

More after the jump!

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What do you think the message is?

I think there are a few, but primarily, I think it’s that everybody has a voice and that everyone’s voice is equally important. Some of the things that people overlook or consciously try to look away from are some the most interesting things and worthy of explanation. I think that’s what the kids probably got out of it.

You mentioned the film eventually going outside of Philadelphia. Do you have any plans for that yet, or for it’s future?

No, we don’t really have any plans for that yet. I don’t personally own the film, so there are a lot of hurdles as far as getting distribution. At this point, The First Person Festival is a place where we thought it would be a good fit. We’d like it to be in the Philadelphia Film Festival; we think that would be a good home for it. But outside of that, it’s all up in the air, it depends on if people are willing to take distribution on us as another part of the project.

Do you consider current project, “Shadow World” carry the same message as “If You Break the Skin, You Must Come In”?

“Shadow World” came directly out of working on “If You Break the Skin”. I wanted to follow the same sort of themes, but do something that was a bit more personal. Even though I’m not a character in the videos myself, it is more of a personal exploration and a personal challenge. It does follow the same ideas of looking at people who we normally would not stop to talk to, and breaking out of your preconceived ideas of who people are.

How have you been inspired by your work on this project?

It’s definitely changed over time. My interest starting out was really more on the location and seeing the characters, but it’s become much more about talking to people and getting their stories. It’s really changed over time. When I first started it was something that I could have instantly online, and I knew my friends would see it, other filmmakers would see it, and other artists would see it. But since it’s kind of gained attention from several newspapers, I find that people actually in the neighborhood that I’m shooting in are actually watching it and paying attention. I get feedback from them which is pretty amazing because I wasn’t even sure how they would think about, but I get a lot of interesting reactions.

I would imagine that most of the people you talk to do not have regular Internet access. Have you gone back to show them the videos?

It’s hard because it’s just online. I guess I could try to go around and pass out DVD’s, but there are a few people who are in some of the episodes that I know have seen it, and I’ve gotten to talk to about it, and I’ve gotten some good reactions from them. There are other people that see their photos in the newspaper and are curious, but I know they haven’t seen it. There’s an episode with the guy Nick who collects buttons, and I see him pretty frequently, and he’s loved seeing it. He’s from Kensington, he grew up there, and based on what he’s told me, it’s even opened up his eyes to his own neighborhood, in a way that he hadn’t seen it before. Now some of the people that are in the videos alongside of him, he feels a connection to them.

How do you decide who are you going to talk to? Are they usually people that you see everyday?

Actually all of the videos are of people who I’ve never seen before. Sometimes I see people and I go up to them on the street and ask them, but usually I go out there and I just try to shoot the environment, and the people who take interest in what I’m doing are the typically the people who are more likely to say yes when I ask them to shoot them. So I try and allow people to come to me.

What would you say is the most beautiful or positive thing that you’ve uncovered in your work?

I’m not necessarily trying to paint it in a negative or positive way. I see them as individual character studies; individual short films, and not necessarily as a representation of the neighborhood itself. In my view there is a documentary element to them, but I don’t consider myself a journalist. I try not to claim that Kensington is one thing or another. I think there is a beauty, and sometimes the beauty and what is ugly are indistinguishable. I think those are the things that I’m most interested in. Like the structure of the El itself and the environment somehow can kind of be intimidating and powerful at the same time.

Shadow World:
undertheel.blogspot.com

For updates on David Kessler’s work:
feedingthewatersphere.blogspot.com

If You Break The Skin… at FPS
2111 Sansom St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
www.firstpersonarts.org

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